UPDATE 8-26-2011

Hey guys, Wug here.

I just got a nice letter from Mike of Shark City USA telling me the posts over at MM.net and here were not from him. I guess that helps clear that bit up! Direct from Mike Schultz:

I did not write any of these posts, articles or comments listed.The person posing as me did so maliciously and without my permission or knowledge or intent. I am deeply sorry and saddened for these rants and disgusting tirades and words.BUT I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM, AND NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS ARTICLE OR ANY OF ITS CONTENTS BEFORE TODAY 08/26/2011.Please accept our sincere apologies and know that we are filing complaints.

But my question now is: “who was it?” They have gone through a lot of trouble to do both damage and then cover it up with threats. I have a feeling it may be someone familiar with the company thinking they were helping out. Fess up, trickster! You owe Mike Schultz an apology at least. Mike Schultz gave us his apology for something he was not responsible for and that takes a real man and a responsible business owner.

—————————Original post follows—————————-

First off, really have to apologies for just disappearing for the last two weeks. Yeah, I suck. But I think we all understand how things can be sometimes so do cut me a little slack.

Now I kick off tonight with a simple request to our dozen(s) of readers, a request I hope you not only take heed of but also pass along.

Do NOT order this product.

Shark City USA Bruce "Jaws" Maquette

It’s a maquette of ‘Bruce’ the shark from the 70’s horror flick ‘Jaws’ from Shark City USA (I’ll assume you’ve heard of it) Now why do I ask you to do this? Not due to poor craftsmanship, price or whatnot. Really in this business that’s entirely up to you what to like, hell it isn’t even dangerous (that I know of). My reasons are simple- the guy’s hawking this damn statue are pricks and do nothing but make our community look worse with their shit attitudes. See, I frequent (OK damn near live) at the Movie Maniacs message board ‘The Asylum’ (moviemaniacs.net) and it’s pretty laid back group to say the least. Hell I’ve been a member of that forum longer than any other online and I hold the place near and dear to me shrunken black heart- we checked I do have one.

Like I said, we’re laid back and really tend to avoid the ‘assholery’ that pervades most other forums online- so don’t worry about overly snarky pricks there. That being said, there are some ground rules: 1. no religion or politics (we had some…problems with this, less said the better believe me) 2. don’t be an ass- pretty self explanatory and 3. don’t sign up JUST to sell something. Be it a website or some product you think us horror fans will drool over.

Hell I’ve been there since 2002 (officially) and even I was leery about both promoting this site and my message board there, for fear of alienating people.

Now the other day we had a new member by the name of ‘Captquint’ whose first post was a slap in the face of rule 3. He linked to a site for order info on the bad boy shown above

Now, naturally, we comment on how MAYBE he should…you know, at least say ‘hi’ before jumping head first into a goddamn commercial. Here was his responses:

“Well thanks for the reply. I suppose any variety of response could be appropriate as I did just place an image rather than a standard intro. But then sometimes an image tells a thousand words therein.

While it might appear I’m selling something based on the ad looking image I’d like to think of it more as a conversation piece. Does seem to have started a conversation already, so maybe its working on some level.

And true, it is my second post but I’d like to think the first post demonstrated my interest in more than just selling something. if not, well then I guess that’s the nature of sharing media tie-in product information. Then again this site is based on the notion of marketing media so not sure why the lack of words caused a minor stir. Anyhoo…hey how about them dodgers?”

“That’s one way of looking at it. Another could be the company or entity selling said item might not be interested in mass sales, just anyone buying it, and/or selling to those that care more about price than quality.

Call it selective marketing if you will”

OK, not so bad- the first was in fact a response to our own Wug by the way. So let’s see how it goes from here when others comment that maybe he shouldn’t open up like this initially.

“First off I will say thanks for posting the pic of this amazing Jaws shark.Truly incredible.Second:Whats with all the smart ass replies?What a bunch of dicks.”

OK. this isn’t him, this is another poster jlt13th, whose sole post was this and the account itself was created right before this post (by the way you have to have an account to even see the forum)

“Finally a worthwhile question.”

Isn’t he nice?

“I actually don’t need the ‘free advertising space’ here as this isn’t a product that actually needs advertising. In fact its not really a product as much as it is pop art. Moreso, I also probably won’t be staying to discuss films here much anymore unless something really stirs me past the warm welcome I’ve been afforded.

So if you wish, please remove said ‘advertising’ and consider my account as… indefinite.

Thanks

P.S. I hope the studios appreciate the ‘free advertising’ and feedback you allocate for them here on a daily basis more than I have so far.”

in response to an Administrator asking what the rest of us have been asking so far.

“Apology? You should be thanking every new poster here who wastes time looking to not be redundant when they could be anywhere and a million places like AICN or CHUD etc…and s forth and so on…

Yes this was a scam and I’m a bot. Please delete my account clown admin person. No…strike that I demand it. Or keep it open because it makes your site look like it has more members that want to be here.

Should’ve known this place would be an intellectual dumpster when it required a registration just to see the topics.”

Rule 1. when getting potential buyers: DO NOT INSULT THEM!

“Why not check the IP’s genius. Or could that make you out to be more of a jackass than you already sound like.

And yes I’d agree this thread has not turned out the way I expected. MUCH much more entertaining than I could have ever imagined.”

when being called on about making a double account for the previously mention JLT

“True Horror…is that your name or what your mother says when she fucks you with her arm while you watch halloween?”

I’ll let you guess what the name of the poster is that he’s referring to.

“OK…now that we’ve checked I.P.s and know its not the same person posting in favor of said terrible thread, its one of my pals…For a bot I sure have lots of friends worldwide that I can call on a minutes notice with nothing to do but help save me from the JAWA droid smugglers…in fucking credible. This place is one of a kind.”

After this he was banned. For obvious reasons. Now normally I wouldn’t do something like this, but I would rather this guy got the boot early on. We do not need idiots like this to take our money. We know that oftentimes companies don’t really ‘care’ about the fans but we at least know they respect the money we offer them so they at least act accordingly. This crew obviously holds us in the lowest of regards in that he can’t even attempt to conceal it. So fuck this guy and his unlicensed Jaws statue (yeah it’s not even ‘official’) please do not give this man your business and with luck he will go elsewhere.

———————————-End of original post—————————–

If you missed it, please see the update at the top of this post explaining the situation further. In short, Mike Schultz of Shark City USA did NOT post that stuff and let us know officially that it was not him.

This is now kept more for history sake, as I believe there is a valuable business conduct lesson here, both for positive (Mike’s Response) and negative (everything else involved).

Related

These things give us money. Visit them!

KyleThoreau is a time-traveling axe murderer from the 1800’s. He stopped in the 2000’s because he ran out of the secret time-travel juice that the cyborg clone of Abe Lincoln gave him. He must now find the clone of Abe to return to his time-travel duties. In the meantime he has decided to report on geeky news and read comic books.

It sounds like a regular fan posting up something they got excited about from what I can tell. Kyle Thoreau or 10mfh should probably be worried about getting sued for internet slander. This article sounds kinda childish. If this is the kind of thing 10mfh is going to be reporting about I think I’ll be looking elsewhere for my comic reviews. How about posting something worth reading for a change?

Apologizing is always better than threatening to sue people. The internet is full of people dissatisfied with products, services and companies. The best responses by companies are always ones of humility when a mistake was made and when efforts are made to repair the damage. Read any marketing materials on the subject of internet feedback. Companies that react negatively to online feedback can really get major backlash. Don’t piss off your target market. See: Shocker Toys.

Oh, and Ken, this entry is over a year old. You must have found it by a google search. We usually don’t report on this sort of thing, but the company really conducted itself poorly in public, and I think that is important to note.

If this individual is really NOT associated with the company, it would be nice for the company to clarify that… as the assumption is that he was representing the company in at least a marketing capacity. He makes no denial of such claims. Most people on the moviemaniacs forum don’t just sign up to sell things on the main discussion section. At the very least they give a brief “Hey, check this out! It’s cool!” explanation. The staff and readers have NO problem with companies being friendly and sharing news. The way it was handled by the person posting on behalf of Shark City Ozark was not so forthcoming and when asked to clarify, adjust, or otherwise “play nice” according to the rules of the forum, they instead got ornery, snarky, and then downright rude and disgusting.

The individual in question acted and reacted very poorly and unprofessionally.

I’d been reading comic reviews here for a while, and then on a separate search actually stumbled into this article via a search for a related subject including horror flicks and shark movies. Was surprised this was written by 10mfh.com as its completely in left field in so far as comics are concerned.

Its unfortunate I found this article to tell you the truth as it really makes this site look childish as I said.

Not being a lawyer, I do however know that the line dividing both libel and slander in so far as the internet is concerned tends to get blurred. Both libel and slander actually fall under the broader term ‘defamation’. Technically I’d say (and this is just my opinion) so far this looks like actionable defamation on the part of Kyle Thoreau and probably Wuganmax, especially considering the defamation is being stated and claimed as fact not opinion. Understanding this, you’ll probably want to consider getting a good criminal defense lawyer if they do go after you.

Better yet, why not try going back to writing comic reviews so everyone including me has something more interesting to read about. I already skipped this place once after reading this article but figured I’d drop in again to clarify my perspective. I also re-read the forum thread in question again and it still sounds like capt.quint was instinctively and defensively responding to attitudes from those encountered on the site. Can’t see why anyone wouldn’t react that way. I see no proof capt. quint is a representative from this cool company you’re complaining about. Sounds like just another enthusiastic fan looking to share something they found. If you’re that worried about what’s being said by new members you should probably screen and delete rather than react sarcastically and incite inverse reactions from said fans.

Don’t see why the fan would need to defend what was said either as silence doesn’t constitute guilt. And I also see no reason for this company to clarify, apologize for, or defend when it looks like the unprofessional defamatory, libelous, slanderous guilt rests only on this site for printing these kinds of articles and overly reacting to fans you think break the unthinkable ancient laws of forum ethic.

Really makes me want to get out of this hobby when I read silly articles like this. In fact I probably better steer clear for good this time just so I’m not tied up in any legal action if this site or Kyle do get sued or indicted.

I bet this is why old school J. Jonah Jameson probably prefers good old fashioned newspaper print where the lines are rarely blurred. And GD, that dirt might have some gold in it if you sift it right. You’d be surprised how much dirt gets fought over. Really depends on whether the ‘dirt’ is just dirt or heresay.

But in the original thread, that question was asked, and apologies were offered if that was the case. That option was NEVER explored by “capt quint”. There was an “easy out”. He could have just said that he was just a fan, and everything would have been dropped. Instead “capt quint” took on a company representative role for the organization. Since the company has not come out publicly to say that this was NOT the actions of them or any of their representatives, I think “freedom of speech” is fair game here. It’s not really opinion if someone claims to be something is it? I’ll quote “capt quint” in case you missed it:

“I actually don’t need the ‘free advertising space’ here as this isn’t a product that actually needs advertising. In fact its not really a product as much as it is pop art.”

Sounds like he is claiming to be from the company to me.

Just a simple post in good faith telling us that “capt quint” was not acting on behalf of the company is all it takes. Look up “Vincent Ferrari aol call”, “United Breaks Guitars” or myriads of any other “negative image” backlashes toward companies. These companies had a chance to make things right. Some of them do.

In this case, if the company is innocent…no defamation intended, no slander or libel intended. If the company realizes they made a mistake and make amends, it goes a long way. If they have nothing to do with “capt quint” and make it known to us, we will gladly amend, append, and/or revisit the story. Not sure what else we can do.

Ken, I’m also actually wondering what “comic reviews” you have been reading lately as that is not a main part of the site… in fact I’m not sure the last time anyone has actually posted a “comic review”. We mostly deal with movies, action figures and other similar things. The post Kyle originally posted really fits in with the type of stuff we cover. Just curious.

Thought it was interesting actually. Especially in line with the reboots happening in movies lately.

And the quote you referenced also sounds like something a dedicated fan would write. Like someone that owns one of these sharks and is simply loyal to the brand. I bet if you told a proud ferrari owner that was bragging about their car and the company on a car forum, that they had no business promoting the car to others and were lambasted for doing so they’d probably get kinda defensive too.

Its also possible the company isn’t yet aware of what’s going on as far as defamation and if they are I doubt they’ll be posting anything up her anytime soon. Probably just be sending a legal document.

It’s not like Bill gates is going to issue a response on every forum that cries foul, or in follow up to a debacle resulting from forum administration getting in a ruckus with someone who wants to promote the new Windows software they just picked up, and can’t say enough good things about after they forgot to make intros.

The funny thing about this is I don’t see this company needing much advertising as their artworks look incredible and I bet fans are lining up to buy what they’re selling. Heck,, even I’m interested now. I guess the old adage “bad advertising is still good advertising” holds true.

Appreciate you trying to rationalize Wugmamax however, IMO I think this entire article isn’t helping make any sort of case for 10mfh. I’d be worried it might make things worse and probably lead to some kind of legal entanglements. I’d rather be able to see this site stay online so I can red more comic and movie reviews.

I believe the quote you were going for was “there is no bad press”, but I see your point. This page is actually getting lots of hits thanks to your comments! It may have just faded away otherwise… it was already a year old.

“About that time we became acquainted with a (now) good friend by the name of Fred Stine who runs what I consider the best JAWS related forum/site called Operation Orca. He guided us along a more practical route to getting these designs out to the fans. Fred’s now an integral part of our team and in fact has been doing some phenomenal marketing work which in a round about way helped us get in contact with you.”

Good guess but Hhighly unlikely Anon. I wouldn’t exactly call posting fan comments on a forum ‘phenomenal marketing work’. This article you found, now that does sound like phenomenal marketing work. If someone can get articles out there like this action figure article then I doubt they need to or have the time to do small time posts anywhere. That’s my take. Anyone can post on a forum. Maybe capt,.quint is someone even more simister like carrot top or lex luthor.

And Wugmanmax great to hear I could help get this fledgling site some hits. Sometimes its the funniest things that help. As I said I really do like the articles and insight. And you’re right about the old adage. LOL Funny how we often make up what we think it was. I think it was actually: “There is no such thing as bad publicity”.

Changing gears—I have a question—

What does everyone think of superman’s new costunme? I think it stinks.

Hello everyone. My name is Mike Schultz, A.K.A. Quintjawsman the REAL creator of the shark sculpt in this article. http://www.sharkcityozark.com This is legal notice to all involved. I did not write any of these posts, articles or comments listed above or below this statement. The person posing as me did so maliciously and without my permission or knowledge or intent. I am deeply sorry and saddened for these rants and disgusting tirades and words. BUT I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM, AND NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS ARTICLE OR ANY OF ITS CONTENTS BEFORE TODAY 08/26/2011. Please accept our sincere apologies and know that we are filing complaints.